Pope does not break new ground
Inquiring minds beg elaboration by Pope Benedict XVI on his statement that “use of condoms among some people, as typified in male prostitutes infected with HIV, could be a step towards assuming moral responsibility because the intent is to reduce the risk of infection.”

Perhaps the need for elaboration can be attributed to the insatiable human desire to make words mean more than they do. He is saying no more than that which he said.

Sexual interaction among persons of the same gender cannot transmit life. The Church has always taught that such an action is incomplete, immoral, and less than fully human. Such being true, the Holy Father is acknowledging that though engaging in immorality, the individual who shows concern for protection against the transmission of AIDS, at the very least manifests a desire to assume some moral responsibility by attempting to “protect” his partner from infection.

The pope’s statement does not condone sexual interaction outside of marriage or among same-sex persons. Neither is he applying the papal seal of approval to use of condoms as birth control. Those who hope that he is rewiring the blueprint of the morality of sexual acts would do better to spit in the wind and hope that their faces remain dry.
--MARY E. DELABRUERE
--Springfield

TSA scanners keep Americans safe
There is a new change in airport security screening. The uproar from American citizens seems extreme. After Sept. 11, Americans couldn’t have enough security at airports, train stations, ports of call throughout this country to ensure our safety.

As 2010 ends, people have forgotten 9/11 and that devastating day in history. We have citizens angry that they have to go through a scanner that checks the body to ensure people boarding planes don’t have explosive materials or weapons under their clothes or in the body. This is an invasion of privacy? It should be considered another measure to ensure their safety.

Being a corrections officer, I know that pat downs are good but don’t find everything someone may be hiding. The scanner shows a virtual naked figure, and there is a concern these machines give off radiation and could have long term health effects. Cell phones do the same thing and most of us spend more time using a cell phone than we will walking through this scanner, and don’t forget microwave ovens are not the safest machine, yet we use them almost everyday.

As a reminder, December 25, 2009 Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab attempted to blow up NWA flight 253 bound for Detroit with liquid explosives sewn into his underwear. Thankfully, it failed. December 22, 2001, Richard Reid “The Shoe Bomber” attempted to blow up his flight over the Atlantic Ocean with an explosive in his shoe. If these scanners were in place these men would never have boarded these planes.

I hope the American’s that are complaining about this will wake up! This is for their safety and families safety. Not to embarrass you or to ruin your vacation. All terrorists will do anything to kill us or destroy our country and our freedom! Wake up people!!!
--MARK JACHYM
-Westfield

It’s time to reverse Obama’s agenda
State Rep. Joseph P. Wagner, D-Chicopee,is batting 2-for-2 if the voters and elected officials of Chicopee are not.

First, he hit the nail on the head when he said he would not support home rule charter changes affecting our form of government in the city.

And now “Wagner said he feels it would be unaffordable to move ahead with a single-payer plan providing universal health care.” He’s on target again.

In case you doubt it, wait until your bills for “Obama care” start rolling in including you paying taxes on the portion your employer pays. We don’t need “Obama care” in Massachusetts, and we don’t need a single-payer universal health care plan.

What we do need is some elected officials to start moving away from socialism and allowing us to determine our own needs and the means to achieve them. The “American Dream” should be ours, not theirs.
--JIM RASCHILLA
--Chicopee

Patrick’s ‘boondoggle’ aids illegal immigrants
What better way to kick off the holiday season than to give something that not everyone has (or can afford to give)? That “gift” is the preferred ,in-state resident tuition rate for Massachusetts universities and colleges; now available to and for illegal immigrants. Who else but the freshly re-elected Gov. Deval L. Patrick, who has pledged that this will be his last term in office (there’s a load off), can so blithely play jolly St. Nick and give away yet again another piece of what the rest of the taxpayers in the commonwealth work and live legally to help provide? What possible benefit does this move by Patrick offer to a cash-strapped commonwealth ?

Consider this: Illegal immigrants will now qualify for the in-state residents” rate for higher education, if our leader has his way. However, if in fact these people ARE here illegally then does it not stand to reason they do NOT have valid Social Security numbers? Keep pulling on the thread and you can now safely bet that they probably have no reportable federal or state income. That’s OK; keep pulling because if you don’t have income; join us in the tent because you now qualify for ....financial aid. All this on the taxpayer’s dime in a state that is awash in debt and deficit and teetering on the brink of insolvency.

One can only brace him or her self for the inevitable Patrick Plan for funding yet another one of his boondoggles: higher income tax ( 7 percent) and sales tax (8 percent) before the year 2011 is finished. And the hits just keep on comin’. 
--WILLIAM L. COLLINS Jr.
--Springfield

It may be great the PRE has abandoned plans to burn construction and demolition debris. But to add smoke of any kind within a mile of two schools and many homes without a thorough environmental impact study in a city with poor air quality at best and with a much higher rate of asthmatic children than the rest of the state at large is unconscionable. At a hearing at Kennedy Middle School this past summer, we were told that an outside study would be done. This still clearly needs to be done.

The $2 million dollars PRE is offering Springfield “to mitigate the impact of the project” sounds like a bribe to us. We hope the City Council cares more about our kids than either Bowles or Gatto seem to.
--JEAN and DURHAM CALDWELL
--Springfield

Politics needs less partisan bickering I
have always believed that after an election it is a time for reflection and thank you, no matter if one wins or loses. I am proud of the 26 percent we received in Agawam as an independent in a highly charged partisan atmosphere with a competitive three-way race.

I ran for the right reasons and I ran to win, which my positive campaign and effort demonstrates. More than ever, I believe the district must be represented without bickering, outside interference and outside influence by whoever holds the seat.

My sincerest thanks and gratitude to those too numerous to name who helped in many ways throughout the campaign. Your support and friendship is treasured beyond the results of this campaign and will always be remembered by me and my family. I respect Rep. Rosemary Sandlin, who lost her bid for re-election, for running a clean campaign.

While I sincerely respect the results of the election in our democracy I at the same time have no regrets that we ran a positive straight forward issue campaign. I oppose negative campaigning, misrepresentations and distortion methods.

In my lifetime I have had the opportunity to win many campaigns and also to be on the unsuccessful side. One key thing I have learned is that elections end but how you run a campaign remains embodied in your character and spirit forever for those to judge. 
--ANTHONY C. BONAVITA 
--Agawam 